1 Rouble 1897 two star cleaning

[Voomer]

Hi

 

I bought this coin on the weekend with some other and making a before and after shots to see the differencies between the cleaning.

The coin was cleaned by silver bath.

Any idea on how to clean out the little deep details like the ear, the rim and the letters?

[bobh]

Hi

 

I bought this coin on the weekend with some other and making a before and after shots to see the differencies between the cleaning.

The coin was cleaned by silver bath.

Any idea on how to clean out the little deep details like the ear, the rim and the letters?

The trouble with coins which saw lots of circulation is that the toning isn't the result of just one kind of chemical reaction. For example, an uncirculated coin might become toned due to contact with humidity or certain outgases from a holder, album or wooden tray, but have no fingerprints or grease otherwise. A circulated coin will have all sorts of junk, both organic and otherwise, embedded into the recessed areas. I think it is likely very difficult, if not impossible, to get it all out at that stage without resorting to mechanical cleaning methods which almost always leave undesirable traces (hairline scratches, etc.). And this is one reason why it is not a very good idea to dip coins which are in worse grade than high AU or UNC (IMHO). Another reason is that a circulated coin with wear looks very unnatural if it is too "clean"... you can always tell that it has been dipped, whereas with a nice coin in AU/UNC it is often impossible to tell if done correctly.

 

Even then, you have to have a good deal of experience to know how to do it right. For example, most people will not rinse a coin thoroughly enough after dipping it in silver bath, and the acid will continue to eat its way into the surface of the coin. Some people leave it in too long, which destroys any luster the coin might have had. Even if 1897-** is a fairly common year, I would hesitate to use an otherwise perfectly collectible Russian rouble to experiment with. But from the pictures of "before", I guess you didn't have much to lose. I think it would be safer to experiment with something like a USA silver dollar which you can get for almost nothing over and above the silver value.